Is it wrong to feel guilt over anti-immigration policies?

Question

I feel bad in telling Mexicans who come to the US illiegally to return because I know they were here first - before they were Mexicans they were the indigenous people of the southwest. Who am I to tell them they should leave? My father came to the US from India and waited patiently to get his green card and then became a citizen the legal way, BUT my father is not an indigneous American. So is this guilt I have wrong?

Answer 1

First of all, neither you nor they are 500 years old.  I might as well feel guilty about slavery because I'm white, even though it was abolished over 140 years ago and my ancestors come from the North and Canada.  

I was born and raised in Southern California.  It is IRRATIONAL for a Mexican not born in Southern California to come across the border and claim Southern California is his or her land and that it isn't mine when I was the one born here.  This is NOT logical.  

Second, the Southwest hundreds of years ago wasn't exactly suffering an exploding population.  Compared to today there were very few people here.  The Aztecs didn't even come close to being here.  

Third, those that were here in California fought at times with the Mexican army when it was a part of Mexico.  The Mexican army stole their land.  But sometimes you had shifting alliances, with the Mexicans going with one tribe against another, and so forth.  

Fourth, some Mexicans in leadership positions in California at the time of the American takeover supported U.S. annexation.  General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was the most famous of these, though I have to say the treatment he got by us in kind left a lot to be desired.  His brother, also an ardent supporter of U.S. annexation, served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War.  They supported annexation because they were tired of the corruption in Mexico City.  Governor Pico, who opposed U.S. annexation, returned after the war to become a U.S. citizen and served on the Los Angeles city council.  

Finally, the Southwest was paid for to the Mexican government for $28.25 million in mid-19th Century dollars.  This includes $15 million for the land purchase after the war (an amount equal to what was offered before the war), $3.25 million assumed in war debt, and $10 million later in 1853 for the Gadsden Purchase, which rounded out the border.  It would be equal to about $700 million today.  That doesn't sound like much, but they didn't have major cities and industries back then here either.  It was mostly just empty land.  

So if you don't want to feel guilty over land that was paid out to people whose ancestors stole it from others, I guess you can.  Just one thing.  If and when the land returns to the control of Mexico City, have them pay back the $28.25 million, adjusted for inflation and increased value of the land.  That ought to have them paying until the next millenium.  

Oh, and please tell them all, if they want to start acting like the natives they claim to be, have them learn and start speaking Nahuatl.  All this Spanish, an IMMIGRANT language from THEIR ancestors in Europe, is driving me nuts.  

Answer 2

You shouldn't be telling people to go back! it's not your job. But it sure looks like it for some people after reading questions and answers on here. Go about your business and do the job you are paid to do, they aren't harming anyone. That's why our tax dollars pay for the Border Patrol Agents and ICE. People like Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix, AZ abuse their power, and because of that, he is costing us taxes payers a lot of money. He's the Sheriff that has the most law suits against him, and who pays for that?.......we the tax payers!

Answer 3

Feel guilt for the indigenous people, not the Mexicans.

Everyone immigrated, why feel guilty with the "who was here" bull, that's like some 3rd grade stuff there.  There is not one Mexican who illegally immigrated to the U.S. that was "here first". fact.

Answer 4

It is your humanitarian side that is making you feel guilty.  There are few of you in section of yahoo answers.  

Answer 5

Why should you feel bad for people who willingly break the law?  You have to follow the rules or get into trouble, so why shouldn't they?  

How would you feel if someone walked into your house without asking permission, told you that they were going to move into the back bedroom (with their family), you were going to make sure their medical needs were taken care of, pay for them to go to school, help buy the food they eat & clothes they wear & you couldn't do anything about it?  You called the police but all they tell you to just ignore it & start working a little more overtime.  Wouldn't that p**s you off?  Multiply that scenario by 11,000,000.  Now take into account that we pay $380 BILLION every year to do just that.

It pisses me off thinking about it.

Answer 6

I was born here, i don't feel guilt for illegal aliens breaking my nation Immigration laws...

Keep your crying pro rant to yourself "if your not Native American, your immigrant"

Answer 7

The interesting issue you raise is that your father waited patiently to get his green card and to become a citizen the legal way. While he is not a native American, he did appear to follow the proper and legal procedures. He probably paid a lot in fees, and waited a long time to establish his legal status. And precisely this situation is what rightfully infuriates so many people: Why should people such as your father wait for many years to legally emigrate when others merely walk across the border? As long as employers offer those illegals jobs, then people will continue to illegally immigrate. And there's been no incentive for the government to solve this problem, as it keeps wages low and the economy humming. Except in times of recession!

Answer 8

Why would you ever feel guilty about asking people to obey the law?

Answer 9

Yes, illegal aliens were not here first; otherwise they wouldn't be ILLEGAL Aliens! I am an indigenous American and I am telling you to NOT feel guilty for supporting the deportation of illegal alien trespassers. Would you feel guilty about evicting squatters from your own property?  

Answer 10

yes, Mexico sold AZ, CA and TX to the US in the 1800's. those laws were put in place to preserve our country, what do you think would happen if we just threw open the border and said, "you want to come here, come on." we'd burst at the seams.  

Answer 11

The Mexicans who come here illegal were not here first, if they were, they wouldn't be labeled illegal.

History is just that, history, It's almost 2009, join us.